Amidst Narrowing Slits
by BlazeBlade
Summary: After finally capturing escaped convict Eren Jeager, inspectors Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman embark into a dangerous game, as in order to find the answers to a series of string murders they find themselves within a web of lies where nothing is what it seems, maybe not even themselves.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin in any way or form, nope, not at all.

Trigger warning, this fanfic will contain cannon typical violence, an obscene amount of swearing (Courtesy of Levi) and mentions of mental ilnesses.

* * *

Click.

Click.

Click.

"Damn it"

Levi cursed, snapping the lighter shut, his unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, he scoffed and turned his head upwards, looking at the contaminated night sky, not even one star was visible.

"Levi, you need to get back inside" the dark haired man was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice coming from behind him, Erwin was poking his head out of the back door of a nearby building, his blond hair and blue eyes contrasting horribly with the darker surroundings.

Levi sighed, pinching his nose before nodding. "Fine. Lead the fucking way" he grumbled, keeping the cigarette in between his lips and pointedly ignoring the amused look the blond was wearing no doubt because of his swearing.

With his hands inside his pockets and steps heavier than they normally were, Levi followed Erwin inside the Police Office, his eyes falling into any place not thoroughly cleaned, surprisingly, he didn't comment, which seemed to be something Erwin picked on.

"You really feel that bothered by this interrogation?" The blond asked softly once they were before the door to a small room.

Levi made a point to not let his eyes wander towards the double sided mirror that would let him see who exactly was inside, and shrugged, taking the unlit cigarette between his fingers and flicking it towards the nearest trashcan.

"Work is work, and there isn't one damn thing I can do about it" he said while slipping his jacket off.

Erwin's smile looked more like a grimace now "Just, remember to stick to the plan"

Levi hummed in response, already walking towards the white, closed door, he stopped just before it, taking in a long yet silent breath before stepping forward, throwing it open in an unnecessarily violent fashion, no doubt as part of his intimidation tactic.

The face that greeted Levi did nothing but annoy him, the man sitting inside was still the very same as the last time he had seen him. Tanned, tall, lean and even smiling the same nervous smile he had always shown him.

But the thing that caught Levi's attention the most were the man's eyes, a bluish green, shinning with hidden mirth and an unwavering, unending, almost not quite sane, determination that might even be considered terrifying to others.

The sight of him, _Him_ , sitting on that chair, handcuffs joining his hands together and to the table, it… it felt wrong to Levi, which did nothing more than make him even angrier.

Levi gritted his teeth and strode forward, slamming both hands into the desk, feeling a small ounce of satisfaction when the man's muscles tensed in surprise, he could still make him react like before then.

"Corporal." Greeted Eren, smile looking slightly wider but no less nervous than before, his eyes still sparkling, as if he hadn't done anything wrong, as if he hadn't murdered all of those people in cold blood-

"Corporal?"

The questioning tone snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glared at Eren, feeling superior at being able to look down at someone for once.

"I have told you before you bastard, I'm not a corporal, nor will I ever be, so stop calling me that, if anything, you should refer to me as inspector, you shit" He growled.

Eren merely shrugged, not at all bothered by his cursing.

"Sure thing. Corporal" That shit was messing with him, he even had the audacity of breaking into a wide grin, speaking to him as if they were the best of friends.

"So, how have ya been Kiddo?

The nickname irked Levi, it was nothing but a subtle way of reminding him of his age, of how the man before him was a full decade older than him, his senior.

"The one asking the questions here is me, so you will only speak when answering, otherwise I won't hold back, Are we clear you bastard?"

Eren raised one eyebrow but nodded nonetheless, leaning back into his – no doubt uncomfortable- chair. Levi simply closed his eyes and took a big breath, taking a sit before Eren mere moments after.

"Name?"

"Awww, come one Levi, you really don't remember?"

The smack produced by Levi backhanding Eren resounded through the small room, yet the green eyed man merely leaned back again, his hands not even moving in an attempt to still the aching that would no doubt cover one side of his face for at least a few hours.

No, Eren simply smirked at Levi, an expression so full of the knowledge of… _something_ that it made the inspector almost strike again.

The bastard did always have a ridiculously high amount of pain tolerance.

"I will ask one more time, Name?"

Eren looked as if he wanted to keep going with the smart remarks but thought better of it at the last second.

"Eren Jeager."

"Age?"

"Thirty Four"

"Now, tell me, why are you here exactly"

"I have absolutely no idea, really" Eren stilled for a second, as if hesitating about what he was going to say "Maybe the Corporal just loves to see me in chains?"

The next backhand was strong enough to actually break Eren's lip, the swelling on his face would be no doubt really impressive to look at, yet Eren was just smiling, all traces of nervousness gone from the expression.

Levi really didn't want to see it, but he did, the way Eren's breathing quickened for just a second, the dilating of his pupils, the way he quenched his hands around the chain connecting the handcuffs.

This sick fucker was enjoying this.

This sick motherfucker was actually doing it on purpose.

Levi wanted to wash his hands so very badly, but he just clenched his teeth and kept talking.

"You are held account for more than ten murders and are a prime suspect in at least another dozen missing person cases" Levi started, intently watching Eren, looking for a reaction.

"That amounts to easily a lifetime in jail and in the case your lawyer doesn't like you or is an incompetent piece of shit, a death sentence."

Eren merely shrugged, tilting his head to one side, staring at Levi as if he was nothing but a small, particularly stupid child.

Deep breaths Ackerman, auto control, auto control.

"Now, regarding this, my boss had an offer that might interest you" Levi leaned back, crossing both arms over his chest while glaring at the other man.

"Oh?"

"If you behave yourself instead of being a little shit, and cooperate with answering some questions we can guarantee a life sentence"

"Pfff" Eren threw his head back and laughed, just… laughed, this fucker, it was obviously all a game for him. Levi didn't hit him again only because he knew that Eren would be expecting it.

"What seems to be so funny, you bastard?" Levi asked, his voice sounding more like a growl than anything else.

"Ahh, Corporal, it's just too funny, that you would really think I would rather spend my life behind bars than die a free death. It's honestly hilarious"

Levi was really this, _this_ , close to flipping the table, but the man interrupted his actions when he spoke once again.

"Ahh I'm sorry corporal, I formally apologize, that was extremely rude of me" Eren said, head hung down, his giggles still dying out.

Levi had honestly no idea if he was being made fun of or not, which did nothing for his already terrible, terrible anger.

"Okay, lets hear it then, what do you want to know?" Eren finally asked, leaning forward while resting his forearms on the table, wrists as separated as the chains allowed them to be.

This was going to be a really long night.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin in any way or form, nope, not at all.

Trigger warning, this fanfic will contain cannon typical violence, an obscene amount of swearing (Courtesy of Levi) and mentions of mental ilnesses.

This chapter was Beta'ed by my amazing friend Shayu.

* * *

Mere seconds after Eren spoke Erwin entered the room, making the fact that he had been listening in abundantly clear.

Levi clicked his tongue and stepped away from the chair, giving Erwin somewhere to sit. He decided to stand by the side instead, resting his back against one of the cold, white walls of the room. This position allowed Levi to easily see anything Eren did.

The man in question simply stared ahead, completely straight-faced. Levi also made a point of not acknowledging the way Erwin's bushy eyebrows rose after seeing the damage he had done to Eren's face.

The bastard had brought that upon himself, and it wasn't Levi´s fault Eren had decided to be an annoying shit.

Either way, after sitting himself, Erwin pulled out a large, brown folder, waiting for Eren's eyes to fall on it before setting it over the table and sliding it towards the man.

"These are pictures of one of the recently identified victims in a case of serialized killings," Erwin started, waiting for Eren to take them out of the bag before pointing his long finger towards one of the bodies.

"See that woman's neck? It's one of the characteristics that all of the victims shared, apart from all of them being middle aged."

Levi walked towards the desk, and glanced over- _He was glancing over something for once_ \- Erwin's shoulder, getting close enough to re-examine some of the photographs, as he had gotten the chance to see them earlier.

No matter how many times he saw the victim's necks, it was still fascinating.

All of them had a very thin, black tattoo around their necks. It was a delicate piece of work, with numerous swirls and small decorations littered all around.

Just like a choker.

Levi stared at it for a couple seconds, then glanced up. Eren was staring at the woman's neck too, trying and failing to look disinterested. His eyes looked a bit too wide, and his hands clenched. It was an unconscious reaction the man had always had, And Levi knew how to find it.

Tilting his head to the right he was met by a pair of blue eyes and a raised eyebrow, it seemed he had been caught staring. Fuck. Apart from the teasing look Levi could tell the other inspector had noticed Eren's condition too, and was feeling hopeful, if his sparkling eyes were anything to go by.

That look made Levi want to murder someone.

"So, what do I have to do with this?" Eren finally spoke, his head tilted to one side.

Erwin smiled, looking suspiciously content. "Well Mr. Jeager. This is where it gets interesting. You see, one of your most recent victims, Theodore Campter, age thirty, had the same tattoo."

Eren stifled, and while Levi was sure Erwin didn't catch it, he did. The man's back muscles tensed, and the veins in his neck became visible for a very, very short amount of time.

It was no doubt an uncontrolled reaction, something he had not expected to happen, and it was gone just as fast as it came. Leaving in its place an unbelievably convincing innocent look.

"He did? I didn't know."

When the hell had that bastard become such a good actor? Levi would've, hands down, believed Eren's ignorance if he hadn't known better.

Instead, he swallowed down the little voice that told him to not hit him _– He likes it Levi, he_ _ **likes it**_ \- and backhanded him again.

Erwin was up and out of his chair in seconds.

"Levi?! What in the actual-"

"The bastard is lying,"

The "bastard" in question was now resting his reddened cheek on the cold metal table, muttering low pained curses in a hushed whisper.

"Corporal, stop with the violence, I actually didn't do anything this time… and that hurts a lot," That Hypocritical little shit was acting so different now that Erwin was close enough to actually see his expressions.

Erwin coughed, "Indeed Levi, maybe that was indeed a bit of an exaggeration." Levi made a noise of annoyance and turned around, going back to his place by the wall.

Erwin turned his gaze back to Eren's form, eyes colder than before. "Now, care to explain what exactly my partner meant by that, Mr. Jeager?" he asked slowly, lowering his voice intimidatingly.

Levi was not impressed.

One good thing about having Erwin as a partner was that, even if he annoyed Levi to no end, he knew when to trust him. And this was one of those times- Levi didn't need to explain himself, he just said what he knew, and Erwin believed him without question.

Eren huffed, face still pressed to the table. "Fine. I _may_ have known about the man having that tattoo before killing him. What about it?" he said in an angry murmur. He was pouting now. Of course he was pouting.

Deep breaths, Levi said to himself.

Erwin, proving to be the calmer of the two, simply shrugged. "That's our question."

What do you know about that tattoo, Mr. Jeager? And remember, honesty will do you a lot more good than bad."

Eren was silent for a few seconds, and after what seemed like an internal debate, he looked up.

"Okay, I'll tell you why I know the tattoo. But you have to tell me what you've gathered."

Levi observed both of them silently.

After a brief moment of thought, Erwin nodded. "We've only recently found out that those tattoos have been appearing on murder victims since years ago, but they never found a connection as the killings happened too far apart..."

"Some shit job those investigators did back then," muttered the dark haired man.

"Levi, be nice."

Eren merely smirked "Oh Commander, just let the Corporal keep going. He's actually pretty funny."

"Commander-"

"Don't even try to argue with him Erwin, once he has a title set for you the asshole won't stop."

Erwin merely shook his head.

"Anyway, these murders have been happening for a long while now, and there's still not even a single suspect, much less a defined motive behind the killings." Erwin turned his attention back at Eren "Now, this is where you come in."

Eren nodded and waited for the questions to start.

"Mr. Jeager, did the murder of Theodore have anything to do with the fact that he was tattooed?"

"Yeah, it did"

Erwin leaned forward, intrigued.

"How so?" Levi moved closer, his own curiosity overpowering his desire to appear disinterested.

"I was told to kill him because of it, after all," Eren said, almost cheerfully.

A heavy silence fell over the room

It wasn't surprising, as the possibility of Eren killing under the orders of others was something they had discussed before, but actually hearing it out loud still felt like a shock.

"Who exactly was the one who gave this order?" Erwin asked carefully.

Eren smiled and reached towards his neck, the jingling of the handcuffs ringing loud in the suffocating silence.

"I'm afraid I can't say much, otherwise I'll also end up like them," Eren said before sweeping his hand over his neck, smudging something.

Levi had to lean closer to see it. It was carefully concealed with makeup, no doubt the work of a professional but he could see it past the smudge Eren made.

There, an innocent tattoo, dark as night, was delicately circling the neck of a man that had once been his childhood caretaker.

Like a choker around his neck.


	3. Chapter 3

"This isn't good at all, is it?" Erwin said through the noisy environment around them, snapping Levi out of his own thoughts, making him look up from his half empty beer.

Levi didn't answer and simply shrugged, raising his mug and sipping what was left of his drink.

Erwin observed him with wary eyes, mouth pressed into a thin line. They had left the station minutes after Eren's confession, and, with the reveal of the tattoo, Eren's status changed from "murderer" to "next-possible-victim-in-a-row-of-what-was-looking-like-a-case-of-organized-assassinations". And with this also came a call to their superiors, and an exponential increase in security until they figured out what to do about the whole mess of a case they suddenly found themselves with.

And so, with their shift cut unexpectedly short, they decided to skip straight home, meaning that they were actually stopping for some much needed alcohol before getting anywhere near to where they lived.

"We don't even know what that tattoo is, much less if it's a link between the victims," Erwin said quietly, breaking the silence. Levi raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, waiting for the other man to continue.

"We need more information about Eren in particular," Erwin admitted, meeting Levi's eyes. "He confirmed the existence of a bigger mind behind all of… _it,_ " Erwin murmured, aware of how he shouldn't discuss police matters in public, much less somewhere where they could be as easily overheard as the pub they were currently in.

"I understand that you have somewhat of a... personal connection to Eren, which we had to keep silent about, just to be given jurisdiction over this case," Erwin started, moving to take a sip of his own almost empty beer.

Levi scoffed and looked away, his shoulders and neck tense. "I don't have any _personal connection_ to that worthless husk of a man," he grumbled, making Erwin sigh.

Erwin gave him a look. Levi frowned, and set down his drink. "Okay. He just happened to be the person hired by my parents for a few months to babysit me when I was younger."

Erwin nodded. "Still, you might know something. Just think for a bit. Did he seem unusual to you back then?" He leaned forward. "And most importantly, do you remember if he had the tattoo all those years ago?"

Levi looked down, scowl clear in his face. Everything up to the age of fifteen had blurred together into an amalgamation of half-remembered days and useless impressions, a useless haze. He couldn't remember if Eren had been particularly strange before, much less if he had carried a tattoo.

Instead of expressing this Levi shook his head, and looked up to see Erwin's serious expression.

"We're at a stalemate then," Erwin said. His expression was neutral, but Levi could tell he was worried from one of his knees shaking up and down. "I had hoped that catching Eren would bring this to an end, but now it's just even more complicated than before."

Levi kept quiet and observed his surroundings. Around them, groups of both men and women were having a good time, laughing and drinking. After a few seconds, he met Erwin's gaze, just noticing that the other had been waiting for his opinion.

"Just go home and get some sleep. You've been awake for at least twenty hours now and no offense, but you look like shit."

Erwin chuckled and leaned back. "I guess you're right. We can go over all of this tomorrow with the rest of the team back at the station. Something is bound to come up between all of us," Erwin hesitated for a second, "I also have something in mind, I didn't mention it before but now I think it might be of use."

Levi nodded, slightly curious and both of them stood up to leave. Erwin left a small tip on the table and walked towards the exit, Levi right on his heels. Erwin called a cab, but Levi turned down the offer to share the ride. "Remember, Levi, I don't want you investigating on your own," Erwin said before leaving.

"Yeah." As soon as Erwin left, Levi turned away and started walking towards a direction completely opposite of his home, his footsteps echoing through the now empty roads.

They had already looked up everything regarding Eren's childhood and teenage life, and nothing was amiss. What were they missing? They had interviewed all of Eren's friends from both middle school and high school. They had even managed to track down Armin Arlert, a family friend that had known Eren since birth and even lived with him while in college, before suspiciously stopping all contact and moving out of the country.

Both of Eren's parents were long dead, and the orphanage he had stayed at for a few years assured them Eren didn't have any friends, nor was he adopted - _He was really picky and wouldn't play with any of the others, he also got angry really easily and was known for his bursts of violence, -_ Levi remembered the Matron's words and he knew she hadn't lied.

Eren had also moved out of the place the second he turned eighteen and managed to pay his way throughout most of his education with an ungodly amount of side jobs and several scholarships, and while he was violent, no one could claim Eren wasn't clever or extremely hard working.

The babysitting was probably also been one of those part time jobs of his.

There were no leads. Eren had no other close friends; his classmates and those who had lived at the orphanage knew nothing, and the amount of people he could have met through his jobs was too large for a proper searching interview.

Levi cursed under his breath, popping a cigarette into his mouth before lighting it. His grey eyes watched the smoke curl through the air, the patterns changing at every small breeze that went through them. He kept walking, trying to remember something, anything, from his time with Eren as his caretaker.

Suddenly, a single thought stopped him cold on his tracks, a brief memory echoing through his head.

" _You look like a friend of mine,"_ Eren said, his green eyes sparkling. He had been looking down into Levi's own grey eyes, one arm around the smaller child, letting his charge's head rest against his bigger chest, his small legs crossed over his lap. Levi couldn't have been older than five.

" _Her name is Mikasa. She's pretty, and her eyes are just like yours,"_ Eren continued, one of his long fingers gently tracing the skin surrounding Levi's eyes. _"Maybe you two are related?"_ Eren commented, brows furrowing before a grin overtook his features, and he stood up, raising Levi from his own sitting position. _"Well, I guess that's enough of little ol' me rambling about boring stuff right? How 'bout we watch a movie?"_

Mikasa… Mikasa… Mikasa.

Levi repeated the name in his head several times, learning it, memorizing it, trying to remember if they had met anyone named that when they had been asking those that supposedly knew Eren.

Nothing recent came to mind. Eren had to be around fifteen at the time of that memory so, high school then? Levi didn't remember anyone with grey eyes while interviewing the people that had attended Eren's school, nor the orphanage.

He stopped walking and leaned against the nearest wall, reaching into his coat to take out a small notebook and a pen, his mind racing as he jotted down notes.

 _Mikasa._

 _High school (?)_

 _Orphanage (?)_

 _Met through work (?)_

 _Female._

 _Good looking._

 _Same age (?)_

 _Grey eyes/Asian_

 _Friends._

Levi finished and looked over his notes again. It wasn't much, but it would do for now.

 _ **BANG**_

Levi jumped, startled, instinctually pressing himself against the wall and pushing his head down, it had come from somewhere nearby, but not close enough for the shot to have been aimed at him, the silence afterwards was too thick, and he strained his hearing, slipping the pen and notebook inside his coat in one swift movement.

A cry cut through the air, small, dying, if he had not been looking for it he wouldn't have heard it, he thought about calling Erwin, yet he didn't, opting for sending him a swift message communicating his situation and location, he knew that whoever that cry had come from would be long dead if he didn't act right away.

The end of the street he was at lead to a small park, which wasn't good, as an open field would make him an easy target for anyone with a gun…

 _ **Bzzz. Bzzz.**_

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone, Erwin had answered his message, and was already on his way, Levi would no doubt end up thoroughly scolded but he didn't particularly care about that at the moment.

No, what he did care about was finding whoever either shot or was shot.

Levi walked slowly, keeping his steps as quiet as possible, his senses alert for anything suspicious.

"Help… anyone" The voice was faint, yet it was enough to make Levi move in its direction as fast as his legs would allow him, the way it had sounded, it was as if the victim was struggling to both breath and swallow, Levi knew the sound of someone trying to speak through a throat injury, and that was it.

He found the man lying on the grass, weakly clutching at his bleeding throat, his legs spasming, he was in shock and Levi needed to act fast, he called an ambulance then kneeled over the victim, wrapping his hands around the bleeding throat and holding him up, this would stop the man from suffocating hopefully long enough for the experts to arrive.

Levi noticed the tattoo a few seconds later, and for once, he didn't feel one ounce of surprise about it, no he just gritted his teeth and waited for the ambulance to arrive, he just hoped whoever had done this didn't stick back long enough to make sure the job was finished.


End file.
